Russians are sharing their glee on social media over the U.S. border crisis, expressing their support for the Lone Star State to declare independence from the United States.
The Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM), also known as TEXIT, is the largest organization promoting that the state leave the U.S. A Supreme Court decision on January 22 to allow federal officials to remove parts of a razor-wire barrier that Texas Governor Greg Abbott had installed along the border with Mexico to deter illegal migration emboldened the case.
Newsweek reached out to Abbott's office for comment on Friday by email.
Abbott has said the wire installed in Texas is an effective deterrent to the "illegal crossings" that President Joe Biden encourages. Abbott and Biden have repeatedly clashed over border issues and the Republican governor's measures to fight illegal immigration in the state. An influx of people have crossed the border from Mexico into Texas.
Per the 1869 U.S. Supreme Court case Texas vs. White, all individual states, including Texas, are prohibited from unilaterally deciding to secede from the United States. It held that the U.S. is "an indestructible union" from which no state can secede.
Numerous posts have appeared on social-media platforms Telegram and X, formerly Twitter, from Russians expressing support for Texas' secession from the United States.
"Texas we are with you! Freedom for Texas!" wrote one X user.
"Texas, of course, is a powerhouse. State leader of the resistance," another posted.
A third user wrote: "Stay strong Texas! Ours will come soon."
Others joked that Putin "signed a decree recognizing the independence of the Texas People's Republic" in a reference to Putin's illegal occupation of Ukraine's eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions; Moscow calls them the Luhansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic. They are both internationally unrecognized republics of Russia in eastern Ukraine.
One X user shared a photo of a flag that states "Texas People's Republic," while another wrote on the Telegram messaging platform: "Texas People's Republic?"
Another Telegram user expressed support for the state to declare independence from the U.S., writing: "We are of course for Texas, the Lone Star State, which has fully earned its right to self-determination."
"I/We are Texas," an X user commented. Another posted what appears to be a mash-up of a Russian song: "Get up, Texas, get up, my native land. Get up, Texas, let's drive the Yankees away together. Get up, Texas, Mother Russia is with you... there is nowhere to retreat further, this has happened more than once, the fatherland will be reborn, Texas will be reborn!"
Daniel Miller, the de facto leader of the TEXIT movement, told Newsweek that he believes Texas could become an independent nation within three decades.
"I think the trajectory the federal government is on, the trajectory that Texas is on, I think we are headed in that direction so, whether by conscious decision or collapse of the federal system in its inability to meet its basic requirements, I think Texas becomes an independent nation definitely inside of 30 years," Miller said.
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
